Sneaker Proxies Explained – 12/18/18

Sneaker Proxies Explained

Got questions about proxies? We’re here with answers. Chances are, you’re reading this because you just bought your first bot (hopefully PD), or you’re doing some research to get into the game. It may seem daunting to get a handle on proxies, but they’re essential to success. Don’t worry, we’ll walk you through the basics then explain the different types of proxies, average cost, & how to use them.

The Basics: What’s an IP?

To start off, you’ll need to know what an IP is & what it does to understand the purpose of proxies. When we talk about an IP, we’re referring to your IP address. Now, this breaks down into two elements: IP & address. IP is an abbreviation for Internet Protocol. The IP controls how packets of information are sent over the internet. This allows different machines to “talk” to each other. The address element (which is the part we’re interested in) is the unique number that’s linked to any online activity you have. This means that anytime you send information to a site, your address can be traced back to your PC by the site.

Now that you’ve got the basics down, let’s go a little more in-depth. When you connect to the internet, your PC is actually connecting indirectly. First, you are connecting to your ISP’s (Internet Service Providers) network. That network is actually connected to the Internet itself & this combination is what gives you access to the Internet.

This is where your IP comes from. Your IP Address is given to you by your ISP (Comcast, Time Warner, Cox, etc). Your ISP is actually the one who has access to the Internet, so it’s their job to assign an IP address to your machine. Your Internet activity goes through them, & they route it back to you, using your IP address. The chain is PC -> ISP -> Internet.

Proxies Explained

The word proxy means substitute. In this instance, you are substituting your home IP for a proxy IP. The purpose of a proxy is to hide your IP address so the site you’re connecting to thinks your requests are being sent from different computers. A Proxy masks your real IP Address by redirecting your activity. When you type in a website address, your ISP makes the request for you & connects you with the site. Your actual IP address is used. When you use a proxy, (this is where the redirect comes in) your internet request goes from your computer to your ISP, then it goes through the Proxy server, & finally to the website. Because your home IP is masked, you can get by a websites limit one per customer rule – the proxies appear to be different customers. Why is that important? You can buy as many limited release items as possible.

As you may know, not all proxies are created equal. There are two different types: Residential (Resi) & Datacenter (DC). Next we’ll explain the difference between the two types, including cost, which sites to use them on, & general pros/cons of each.

Residential Proxies

Just like your home IP, residential proxies are IP addresses provided by an ISP (Comcast, Time Warner, etc). BecauseResi proxies are made by ISPs, they can pass through certain security measures from Nike & adidas, & will be accepted by their servers. Resi proxies are more stable & less likely to get banned, but because they have more information contained in their script, they are slower than DC proxies by nature.

There are different types of residential proxies as well. Resi proxies usually cost between $2.50 – $4.00 per proxy depending on the provider (Destroyer proxies offers a Resi GB Data plan). This is same concept as data usages for a cell phone plan. Your cell phone company offers a certain amount of data per month, & you can browse & download freely until your amount of data is used. With a GB Data Plan, you can make as many proxies as you want until your data runs out. You can make 20 or 1,000, however many proxies you need. Destroyer Proxies allows you to make three popular types of Resi proxies: Static, Dynamic & High Rotation. When you create a Static IP, the IP address will change every 30 minutes. Static proxies are the fastest type of Resi proxies because they are not using data to search for a different IP address to change to. Static proxies are also what you would want to use for a site like Footpatrol, so you will not be kicked from the queue because your IP changed too fast. Dynamic IPs will rotate to a different IP every one minute. & lastly, High Rotation IPs will use a different IP for every request that is sent. When you refresh your browser, that is sending another request to the website. High Rotation IPs will be the slowest, but because they change the IP for every request, they are basically unbannable & are great for restocks! Destroyer Proxies offer multiple locations in 11 countries around the world

Datacenter Proxies

Datacenter Proxies are the most common type of proxy & are what you see offered most of the time around Twitter. A DC proxy is different in that it is not owned or provided by an ISP. They come from secondary companies or cloud server providers. Becauseof this, they are cheaper & more widely available than Residential proxies. Websites have found that by banning DC proxies, they can reduce their website traffic for their customers who are interested in buying their products on their website. It is easy for websites to ban datacenter proxies because when they trace the IP, it does not show a real address, unlike Residential proxies. The reason that they tend to ban DC proxies so quickly is because they assume that they are being used for various spamming activities & malicious purposes, overall.

Common Packages

Generally when you are looking to buy DC proxies, you will see a various types & plans offered. If you buy 24-hour plan, then your proxies will be delivered & they will work for a set time period of 24 hours that will be specified by the provider. One of the more common packages are drop-specific packages. These packs will work for a period of a couple of days, & are meant for a specific shoe release + platform combo. An example is a 3-Day Shopify Yeezy pack. These proxies will work for any Shopify site for a certain amount of days after the Yeezy drops, which allows you to run for restocks. This type will also have a specified time-period that they will be active. The most popular type of DC proxy plans are monthly. You can usually buy them in increments of 25 & you will have unlimited use of them for the entire month. Their prices are usually around $2 per proxy depending on what they can be used for. You will see some DC proxies that work for Footsites (FTL, Eastbay, Champs, FTL), & some that don’t. This is also true for Supreme & Nike. Not all providers have the same quality of proxies, please do your research & ask around before selecting your proxy provider.

Password vs IP Authenticated

Both DC & Resi proxies are available in these formats. They are different forms of protection for your proxies so that others cannot use them. With a password format, your proxy will have a username:password that is required to use it. The advantage of the user/pass format is that you can use the proxies on your server or home PC without any downtime. When using IP authenticated proxies, which are mainly used by Residential IP providers, you have to assign your home & server IP address to your account. Once your IP is authenticated, you can make & use your proxies freely. This process usually takes around 30 minutes, so please be aware of that if you are buying these types of proxies for a drop that is happening in less than an hour.

Using Proxies in Project Destroyer

After you’ve decided which proxies you need, it’s time to load them into PD! As you can see below, the proxy format is shown in Project Destroyer (IP:Port:username:password). When you receive your proxies from your provider, all you have to do is copy/paste (or drag & drop for the Mac users), your proxies into the Monitor Proxies section, located in the Proxies tab in PD & click Save. That’s it, now you’re ready to cook!